In this GOES-16 satellite image taken Friday, Sep. 8, 2017, at 10:45 UTC, Hurricane Irma, center, approaches Cuba and Florida, with Hurricane Katia, left, in the Gulf of Mexico and Hurricane Jose, right, in the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba evacuated tourists from beachside resorts, and Floridians emptied stores of plywood and bottled water after Hurricane Irma left at least 20 people dead and thousands homeless on a devastated string of Caribbean islands and spun toward Florida for what could be a catastrophic blow this weekend.(Photo: AP)

As Hurricane Irma barrels toward Florida, threatening devastation on both coasts, people around the country have turned to the internet looking for ways to help with their wallets.

But how that money is used often is left up to those collecting, with the only regulation coming from inside the websites hosting the campaigns seeking money.

As soon as projections placed Florida in Irma's path earlier this week, hundreds of GoFundMe donation pages seeking hurricane relief for those in the state surfaced. USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA identified more than 500 GoFundMe pages totaling more than $12 million in requested donations, numbers that have likely skyrocketed as the hurricane approaches.

Crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe connect millions to worthwhile causes, especially low-income families in need of quick cash during one of the largest mass evacuations in the state’s history. Some crowdfund to help others.

Catastrophe can attract fraudsters, but more often it draws droves of earnest amateurs seeking help who need only an internet connection and bank account to set up a cause to help hurricane victims.

Many appear to be legitimate operations: friends asking friends for a few hundred dollars to help prepare for the storm; a woman in Palatka who needs to cover vet bills for her dog after maxing out her credit cards on hurricane supplies; a daughter in Oregon trying to help her elderly father flee Venice.

“He’s alone and he doesn’t know anybody,” said Kim Crow, who hasn’t yet reached her $1,000 target. “I just don’t know what he’s going to do afterwards.”

But some campaigns raise more questions. Several were created weeks or even months ago with vague language and only few details about how the money will actually be spent. Campaigns can be edited after they're first created.

Thousands of people line up Saturday to enter a hurricane shelter at Germain Arena in Estero, Florida. The line is more than a mile long. Residents throughout Florida are seeking last minute shelter in advance of Hurricane Irma.

Hundreds of family members checked into the emergency shelter Friday morning at Oak Hammock Middle School in Fort Myers a few days ahead of Hurricane Irma. After seeing the storm shift west, many of the families search for safety.
Andrea Melendez/news-press.com

Amy Oshier shares a report from a RaceTrac gas station located at Colonial and Winkler Blvd in Fort Myers where she reports there is gas available at every pump as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017.
Amy Oshier/Naples Daily News

Customers were informed the truck they were waiting for was not coming with water after some had waited more than two hours in line at the Publix on Six Mile and Colonia Blvd. in Fort Myers.
Andrea Melendez/news-press.com

The scene at Lowe's Home Improvement store in Naples on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017 in advance of category 5 storm Hurricane Irma. This was the last of the plywood at the store until a new shipment arrives.

Hurricane Irma, upgraded to a powerful Category 4 storm, barrels towards the Caribbean and the southern United States with residents in its path preparing for the worst. Video provided by Reuters
Newslook

For example, some campaigns reference the American Red Cross, although it's not clear they are actually related to the organization.

“Hurricane Irma FLORIDA RED CROSS,” is asking for $5,000 to send water and supplies, posting only a broken email address and zip code from Mexico. A similar campaign called “Hurricane Irma Red Cross Fund” wants $10,000 to “build people’s life back up,” with a YouTube video of images from Hurricane Harvey. Neither is an American Red Cross certified charity.

The Red Cross, embattled by reports of donation abuse and lacking transparency in its own operations, said it was not aware of these groups and noted it's known “there are fraudulent online fundraising sites that misrepresent our organization, to the detriment of honest donors.”

Nearly half of the campaigns reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA have received money for their own hurricane relief efforts or “pass-through” fundraising drives, in which they say they're raising money for larger organizations.

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Residents wait outside Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked in to the school Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked in to the school Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, September 8, 2017 in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, September 8, 2017 in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, September 8, 2017 in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, September 8, 2017 in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait outside Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked in to the school Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, September 8, 2017 in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, September 8, 2017 in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, September 8, 2017 in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Residents wait patiently outside of Lely High School, designated as a hurricane shelter, to be checked into the school Friday, September 8, 2017 in Naples. The school can hold, if need be, almost 1,300 people.
Luke Franke/Naples Daily News

Deputy Dan Rogers opened a door to the shelter while the lights were temporarily off at Gulf Coast High School, a hurricane shelter, on September 8, 2017.
Justin Gilliland/Special to the Naples Daily News

Because so many of those campaigns offer only vague destinations, with little oversight outside GoFundMe, business and charity watchdog groups warn people from donating to any campaign unless they’re personally familiar with the organizer.

“There’s no generally accepted standards within that industry, virtually no regulatory oversight,” said Bryan Oglesby at West Florida's Better Business Bureau. “As a donor, it’s hard to separate the people who really need it from the people trying to take your money.”

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said she expects to start receiving donor fraud complaints in the wake of the storm. “However," Bondi said, "we have a terrific relationship with GoFundMe, and my office has already began working with them to monitor suspicious campaigns.”

GoFundMe spokesperson Bobby Whitehorne echoed the sentiment, noting the extra measures the site has added for those trying to set up Hurricane Irma pages. He said the company polices itself diligently, with “technical tools” and a team of expert reviewers who work around the clock to weed out fraudsters and refund donors after campaigns fail to deliver.

Reporters successfully donated to one questionable campaign that GoFundMe had already flagged for review, which then sent several prompts to invite others to donate on Facebook. Whitehorne said the account will be frozen until the organizer can prove its authenticity.

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Residents are evacuated from Heritage Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017 in preparation for Hurricane Irma. Evacuations were ordered for areas west of US 41, where the center is located.
Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News

Residents are evacuated from Heritage Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in preparation for Hurricane Irma. Evacuations were ordered for areas west of U.S. 41, where the center is.
Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News

Residents are evacuated from Heritage Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017 in preparation for Hurricane Irma. Evacuations were ordered for areas west of US 41, where the center is located.
Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News

Residents are evacuated from Heritage Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017 in preparation for Hurricane Irma. Evacuations were ordered for areas west of US 41, where the center is located.
Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News

Residents are evacuated from Heritage Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017 in preparation for Hurricane Irma. Evacuations were ordered for areas west of US 41, where the center is located.
Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News

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Rich Barry, a Walgreens manager from Alabama, found himself dispatching animal rescue missions after Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston earlier this month. Barry turned to GoFundMe to raise money for operating costs to do the same in the wake of Irma, which is sure to strand pets across Florida.